At one corner, Bunny spotted a Humvee, the remains of several soldiers lying around it. At another, the burning wreckage of a helicopter. The army was fighting, but were they winning? Were they even still here?
Turning a corner, Bunny spotted a sign for the freeway. With a smile, she dropped the pedal a bit more, speeding towards it, cutting around the turn towards the on ramp, knowing they could make better time than dodging through the streets.
Too late, she saw her error. Too late, she saw the abandoned flatbed. Far too late, she saw there was no way to avoid it.
The Camaro hit it sidelong, rolling into the air. Bunny held on as tight as she could as the world went upside down. A heartbeat, a breath of time that went on forever, until the harsh crash.
Glass shattered, the roof crumpled in, and sparks flew as the car skidded across the pavement. Still she hung on, warm blood running up her face, the glass having torn her cheek open.
Finally, she stopped. The engine went silent, and she hung there for a moment, ears ringing, dizzy, and trying to focus. Her head throbbed where she'd hit against the roof, and the seat belt was too tight as she hung in it.
Fumbling, she found the catch and released it, collapsing against the battered ceiling. Outside, she heard an engine and wheels skidding on pavement. Forcing herself to move, she crawled out the broken window.
They were already here. The dead choked the street behind them, a groaning mass of hunger moving steadily forward. She looked the other way, saw Bruno in the van window as he looked back. In a heartbeat, she saw he was waiting to see if she was alive.
Pulling herself forward, Bunny met his eyes and screamed. "Go!"
Bruno hesitated, looking back at the crowd of dead drawing ever closer. He dropped the van into reverse. Bunny pulled herself forward a foot, head spinning.
"GO!" she screamed. "Goddamn it, go!"
Bruno looked back at her again, torn. She waved him on, knowing she was finished. If they came back, they would risk all their lives. She wouldn't have it. Not for her.
"I said go!" she bellowed.
Bruno bowed his head, shifted gears, and sped the van away. Bunny watched them go, pulling herself out of her ruined car as they disappeared around a corner, heading for the freeway.
Staggering to her feet, blood drenching her face, she lifted the ball bat and turned to face the tide of dead.
Chapter Seven
BUNNY RAN as hard as she could, the tidal wave of hungry dead behind her seeming to be never-ending. There were hundreds, she knew, maybe thousands, in pursuit of her as she pelted for all she was worth down the devastated streets. Already panting hard, her head still swimming from the car crash, she knew she wasn't going to hold out for long.
She was going to make those ravenous bastards earn their meal.
At every intersection, she saw more of them, rolling forward as they spotted her. Every building she passed seem to belch even more out into the streets. Their growls had turned to howls, echoing to her ears in the eerie silence of the normally bustling city.
Bunny tried desperately to wipe the blood out of her eye as she pushed herself on, looking for something, anything, she could use. Every car she passed, she glanced in, hoping to see keys, or an empty compartment. Always, though, the ignition was empty, or another hideous remnant of humanity came snarling out of it.
Turning a corner, she paused a moment, gasping for air, before heading off again as fast as she could. There was no way out of this, she knew. She was just putting off the inevitable. Still, she ran, unable to simply give up. It just wasn't in her, even when she wanted it to be.
A burning stitch in her side began to slow her. Grasping at it with her free hand, she gritted her teeth and pressed forward, looking for an open door, window, vehicle, anything that would offer some way out.
Burning cars littered the streets almost as frequently as the blood-smeared ones. A silent testament to how easy she'd had it until now. Others hadn’t been so lucky. Just from those pursuing her, she could tell a good chunk of the city had already suffered a grizzly fate. The same fate that now loomed ever larger over her shoulder.
She'd spent her life standing her ground, even when it cost her everything. Her family. Her career. Her dreams. Her love. All gone now, washed away because she wouldn’t bend. She told herself through everything that she was doing the right thing, but as everything had slipped through her fingers, one by one, she had questioned, doubted.
She couldn't help but wonder as she jogged through the dead-infested streets, who she’d be now if she’d bent just once. Where would she be if she had, just once, bowed and done as others wanted? Would she still be here, running, or would she be one of those chasing?
Would it even matter?
Her knees felt like they were on fire. Still, she pumped them, pushing ever forward, as she always had. Her hand knotted against the agonizing stitch in her side, and blood kept burning her eye. Her head throbbed, and she was pretty sure she had a concussion.
Did the dead feel scorn? She pondered the thought a moment, unable to help but laugh. Maybe that was why they were up and walking. Maybe, just maybe, they’d gotten a can full of being looked down on by the living and decided to get even. Perhaps,
